"On the one hand, we're extremely proud of having produced a whisky of such a fantastic quality that's stood the test of time and on the other, there's a tinge of sadness at saying goodbye."

The bottle is the last of six which have been flown over to the airport. They have been bought by Sky Connection, which operates the duty free shop in the airport.

Baker Salleh, chief executive of Sky Connection, said: "We are committed to having the world's best at our duty free shops and we are indeed honoured that William Grant & Sons agreed to part with their rarest and finest whisky so we can showcase it to international travellers at Hong Kong international airport."

Just 61 original bottles of the malt - which is walnut in colour and has been described as having "chocolate and treacle" flavours - were produced from a single cask at the distillery and released in 2001 by William Grant & Sons.

We're extremely proud of having produced a whisky of such a fantastic quality that's stood the test of time

David StewartGlenfiddich malt master

Rory Steel of William Grant & Sons said the sale of the malt had already sparked interest.

He said: "I have heard there is a Chinese pop star who is interested in buying one of the bottles, but that is as much as I can say at the moment.

"We have been selling the malt at the distillery for £10,000 a bottle, but I am sure that price will increase as you will not be able to purchase them from Glenfiddich any more."

Jens Tholstrup, manager of rare whiskies at William Grant, said the six bottles had been sent over in two batches because they were so valuable.

William Grant & Sons is an independent, family-owned distiller founded by William Grant in 1886. It is now run by the fifth generation of his family.

The company distils some of the world's leading brands of Scotch whisky including Glenfiddich, the handcrafted range of The Balvenie single malts and other spirits including Hendrick's Gin.